Although cardiac surgery has made an enormous progress during the last decades, the discipline has to cope with essential changes: patients are increasingly car... » 

Although cardiac surgery has made an enormous progress during the last decades, the discipline has to cope with essential changes: patients are increasingly cared for by cardiologists and therefore referred to the surgeon in a later stage of disease. Consequently, they are more often in an increasingly serious state or in advanced age with significant comorbidities. In order to meet the requirements of these different patient groups, cardiosurgical treatments require special protectional strategies for the heart in order to perform the planned operations safely. «